1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to auxiliary structures that attach to medication dispensers, such as insulin pens or inhalers. More particularly, the present invention relates to auxiliary structures that attach to medication dispensers for the purpose of providing additional room for identifying labels.
2. Prior Art Descriptions
Many hospitals track the administration of medications to patients using barcode labels. Often a different barcode label is created each time a patient is to receive a dose of medication in a given day. The barcode labels are then attached to the medication. The barcode is scanned when the dose of medication is given to the patient. In this manner, the computer system of the hospital can keep accurate records of what medications were given to what patients at what times. The tracking system also ensures that patients are receiving the proper medications and that cross-contamination is not occurring between patients through accidental occurrences of shared medications.
For pill medications, the barcode labels are commonly attached to the container that holds the pills. Otherwise, individual pills are packaged and labeled. In both cases, the pills are easily identified. A problem occurs when the patient's medication is provided in a multi-dose container, such as an insulin pen or an inhaler, wherein the same multi-dose container needs to be reused during the entire stay at the healthcare facility. In such a situation, multiple barcodes must be applied to the container each day. The labels include patient-specific unit-dose barcode labels. However, there is often not enough space on the products to place such labels. For example, a patient may be required to receive insulin four times a day. In order to use an insulin pen within a hospital's barcode tracking system, four barcode labels would have to be attached to the insulin pen each day. This is nearly an impossibility given the space available on the insulin pen.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical prior art insulin pen 10 is shown. As can be seen, the insulin pen 10 has a first section 12 that is used to indicate injection dose. The insulin pen 10 has a second section 14 for altering the injection dose. Furthermore, the injection pen 10 has a third section 16 that provides necessary information about the insulin pen 10, including its contents, concentrations and expiration. In order to attach multiple barcode labels to this insulin pen, one or more of the pen's sections will be at least partially covered by a barcode label. As such, a healthcare worker may not be able to clearly view the three sections 12, 14, 16 of the insulin pen 10. This can lead to mistakes in dosage or lead to the administration of the wrong medication to the wrong patient.
Furthermore, if a label is attached to a medication dispenser, such as an insulin pen or an inhaler, the label typically must be contacted by the fingers of the person using the device. This can cause the information on the label to smear or fade. This also can lead to mistakes in dosage or lead to the administration of the wrong medication to the wrong patient.
In the prior art, some systems have been developed in an attempt to increase the areas that are available for the placement of a barcode label. In these prior art systems, flaps are attached to the syringe that extend away from the syringe and provide room for labels. However, the flaps attach to the syringe by covering much of the exterior of the syringe. In these prior art systems, the label attachment device covers just as much of the syringe as would the barcode labels themselves. Accordingly, this inhibits a person from identifying and properly utilizing the syringe. Such prior art systems are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,522 to Baldwin, entitled Method and System for Labeling Syringe Bodies, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,404 to Osborne, entitled Syringe Bandolier With Control Feature. Thus, the prior art systems do not address the problem of having sections of the syringe blocked from sight.
A need therefore exists for a system and method that can attach multiple labels to a small dispenser, such as a syringe or an inhaler, without blocking significant areas of the dispenser from view. The present invention attaches to medication dispensers in a hospital setting and provides extra space for multiple patient-specific unit-dose barcode labels. This enables patient specific multi-dose medication dispensers, such as insulin pens, to be used in place of vial administration systems. Multi-dose insulin pens have been proven to be superior to insulin vials and syringes not only in home use but in hospital use as well with respect to quality of care, patient safety, and cost. Unfortunately, they do not provide enough room for labeling and when used in hospital settings they can be easily misplaced or confused with another patient's insulin pen. Hospitals that use scanning systems for patient safety must scan the Rx barcode number. Unfortunately, this does not eliminate the possibility of cross contamination. The FDA recognized that danger long ago and has been trying to find a solution. The solution is provided by the present invention as described and claimed below.